The Path to Something Greater
by Libbylou1201
Summary: Submission for The Ultimate Hermione Competition II. Male!Hermione. After a night where a dare that makes him uncomfortable is giving to Hermann, he feels he must go through with it. On the other hand, maybe there is something much more important to be found in this attempt to complete the dare. Rated T for mild swears and multiple mentions of sex.


_Hermione is a boy._

Hermann Jon Granger, the muggleborn wizard who just so happened to be the brightest in his year, was looking for a date. There was a trip to Hogsmeade this weekend and he didn't want it to be just another day with the guys. He was 16 for goodness sake! And he had never dated anyone. Always too busy with books and studying for a date, but for whatever reason today was different. Hermann wanted to blame this change in priorities on his friends. People as rebellious as Harry and Ron just tend to do that to people. It could also be blamed on the bet he made last night.

* * *

 _"Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, bro?" one of the guys asked another. They had all had a bit too much Fire-whiskey that the Weasley Twins had snuck in from the last few Hogsmeade trips._

 _"Ravenclaw!" the other boy answers._

 _"Wimp."_

 _"Lame." The other boys tease him. They are Gryffindors after all._

 _"Whatever mans. My choice."_

 _"Okay then, what is something you have stolen?"_

 _"Your mum."_

 _They are all still laughing at the response when Hermann comes downstairs. He had left for his dorm room hours before the fire-whiskey was brought out._

 _"Yooo! Hermann my man! My Man of the Herms. How you doing? What brings you to this part of the castle on this fine evening?" Logan, a 7th year who was friends with the twins and whom Hermann had spoken to only once or twice, asks._

 _"I heard the noise and I finished my work. Are you guys drunk?"_

 _"Shhhh…" Fred attempts to whisper, "Don't wake up the young'ns."_

 _Ron puts a glass in Hermann's hand and pulls him down to sit on the ground with everyone else._

 _"Okay then," the last boy the answer a question says, "Hermann, welcome to the game. Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?"_

 _"Umm" Hermann felt uncomfortable. What if they made him do something and he died! Or got expelled? What if the questions were super embarrassing. "Gryffindor, I guess."_

 _"Wooo!" The boys all hollered. They all appreciated a soul brave enough to take on their dares."_

 _"Tomorrow, you need a date to Hogsmeade-"_

 _"Lame!" George starts to interrupt._

 _"I'm not done boys! And you need to shag her…behind the Honeydukes."_

 _Hermann's face went pale._

 _"Trust us. We'll all know if you don't follow through," the same boy to dare him threatens._

 _All the other boys were still laughing over Hermann's dare when they heard the shouts. "Who's down there? Get to bed. And five points from Gryffindor for each person who is still down in 5 minutes!" The head boy shouts._

 _"Ugh. Come on boys. Lets get to bed," Harry says to Hermann and Ron as he links arms with them and goes toward the stairs._

 _When they make it to their room, the three keep talking. "So you really going to do it?" Harry asks Hermann._

 _"I suppose I've got to," he replies._

 _"Who are you gonna take?" Ron asks with a eyebrow wiggle and a smirk._

 _"Dunno. Guess we'll find out in the morning."_

* * *

Walking into the Great Hall for breakfast, Hermann was getting uncomfortable. Now was his best chance. Everyone was in here eating so he would have his pick of any girl he asked. However, that was the trouble. He needed a girl that would not only say yes to going with him, but also to…doing his dare…at Hogsmeade. That meant he needed someone _easy,_ but that was not at all his taste. He liked someone more reserved and less out there.

"Hey Hermann," a female voice came from behind me. Turning to see who it was, Hermann found Natasha, who of the easiest girls in the school. She was a 6th year in Slytherin, always getting any boy she desired.

"Oh um hey." While Hermann knew she would be a smart and simple choice for his task, he did not want it to be her, so he allowed awkward silence to pass between them.

"Are you going to Hogsmeade today? Maybe I could join you?"

Did she know what he had to do? Was she trying to be helpful? If this was coincidence, it was the weirdest one he had ever seen.

"Yeah sure. I'd be happy to have you join me," Hermann faked a smile. "I'll meet you by the main door at 10?"

"Of course, sweet thang," she eyed him up and down before turning around and going to her table.

"Seriously, Hermann! You chose Natasha?" Ron ridiculed him as he sat down.

"Hey man, she chose me. Weirdest coincidence I've ever seen, but she asked to join me for the day and despite not wanting her you've got to admit it will be easy.

That was something that Hermann, Ron, and Harry believed to be 100% accurate.

* * *

Natasha and Hermann met exactly when they said they would and walked into town together. Hermann was doing his best to be outgoing and flirtatious, but he was failing miserably. This just wasn't something he was any good at. Natasha, on the other hand, was a marvelous flirt, batting her eyelashes, wearing the top buttons undone on her shirt, holding his hand and constantly laughing. Seeing how forward she was with him, Hermann figured he might as well get this over with.

Shortly after 3pm, Hermann led Natasha back behind Honeydukes and sat down. He leaned in to kiss her, embracing himself for what he needed to do in order to keep his pride.

As Hermann began to close his eyes his heard Natasha sniffle and he pulled away, confused. Out of all the books he had read, girls didn't sniffle when kissing. Why was she crying? She came on to him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I mean no, I mean…no," she said dejectedly.

"Can I help?" Hermann really didn't know what to do. He had no experience of this. But he wanted to help, he really did.

"Why does everyone just have sex with me and move on?"

This stole all the words from Hermann's mouth. He thought that was what she was always looking for; a companion for only a moment so that she could move on to the next guy.

"I mean, I know I put myself out there and all, but I don't know how else to talk to boys," Natasha started to dish everything. It seemed like she had been holding this in a long time. "I only act the way I've watched my mum act with men for so many years. Dad left when I was a baby and Mum has just gone from one guy to the next since then. Sometimes they stay a few months and sometimes they only make it through the night. I'm just so done with sex and parties and shit, but no one will take me seriously!

"I will." Hermann, ever the forgiving and caring spirit smiled to Natasha. He could let this go. He could forget the old Natasha in favor of whoever she wanted to be. That was him.

Natasha smiled.

"I know you're only here with me because of a bet? Do you want to just get it over with?"

"What?" How did she know about the night before?

"I mean smart guys like you don't hang out with girls like me, even if we asked you. So you were bet to shag me, right?"

"Something like that," Hermann mumbled.

Exasperatedly, Natasha replied, "So fine why don't we just get it over with then?"

"No." Hermann didn't care about the bet anymore. He should have realized that not fulfilling a stupid dare would do nothing to change his real relationships with his friends, so why do something he's uncomfortable with? "I don't want to. Let's just head back to the castle. Maybe you would be interested in hanging out in the library sometime?"

"Yeah, actually I'd like that a lot."

It appeared to Hermann that something much more important than sex had occurred behind Honeydukes that afternoon. Hermann had gained a real friend. Not that Harry and Ron weren't, but this one was a girl. And from Natasha's perspective she too had gained a real friend, the first one of her life. Maybe dares weren't everything. Maybe books weren't everything either. They are both just paths to something greater. Because helping others was everything. And friendship was everything. Hermann's time at Hogwarts would be shaped not by the learning he accomplished, though he did still pride himself on that of course, but rather by the people he spent it with. Harry, Ron, and now Natasha would mean the world to him in later times. For now though, Hermann was going to pretend that he had completed his bet with Natasha. He didn't need the ridicule of the Weasley twins hanging over him for the next 5 months until school was out.


End file.
